Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea (Merino 20′)
EMIRATES STADIUM — Arsenal edged a low-quality, high-aggro London derby against Chelsea in a game defined by its Spanish participants.
Mikel Merino scored the only goal, David Raya and Robert Sanchez produced goalkeeping performances that would have made Iker Casillas wince, and Mikel Arteta made a startling post-match comment about the efficacy of Chelsea’s ailing attack.
The spectacle was relatively interesting, but more so for the undercurrent threat of violence than for any real flair. Even the various skirmishes failed to truly catch fire.
Chelsea certainly suffered without their talisman Cole Palmer, out-of-sorts as the playmaker has been.
Palmer had started every Premier League game this season prior to Sunday’s capital clash but missed out due to a mystery muscle injury. It was only the second time in Chelsea’s last 36 league matches that Palmer’s name was missing from the teamsheet: both occasions were fixtures at the Emirates.
With Palmer absent, no away player drew the eye more than Sanchez, Chelsea’s very own captain chaos.
The Spaniard reclaimed his starting spot from Filip Jorgensen last weekend after a month on the bench but remains as unpredictable as ever. Arsenal targeted him on the floor with their high press and in the air with their high balls, earning success with both tactics early on.
Sanchez has a unique goalkeeping style akin to that of an excitable kitten, pawing at the ball whenever its within reach. He made a shaky start and the nervous energy was transmitted to Chelsea’s back four, giving Arsenal’s goal a sense of inevitability when it arrived on 20 minutes.
Merino’s header ended a Gunners drought: it was their first set-piece goal in 13 games since Dominic Solanke’s own goal in the north London derby two months ago. It also ended a mini-dry spell for the makeshift striker who had drawn blanks in three successive league games.
It was a fine finish too, a clever flicked header that looped over Sanchez and dropped in at the back post. Merino has looked a little lost of late, but delivered a passable Erling Haaland impression, by scoring with just one of his seven first-half touches. He even extended his arms like Jude Bellingham in celebration. Maybe he is getting used to this centre-forward lark, after all.
“He wants to understand everything, he wants to learn from it, he’s very critical of himself all the time and at the end, the reality is that he’s winning football matches for us, which is incredible,” Arteta said.
Sanchez had a few uncomfortable moments but paled in comparison with Raya’s complete loss of concentration before half-time.
Marc Cucurella’s volley lacked punch but Raya inexplicably let the ball squirm through his grasp like it was a greasy bar of soap, turning around aghast to watch it spin agonisingly away from his bottom corner. It was a “strange save,” as his manager charitably put it.
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Arteta says Chelsea ‘are the best attacking team in the league by a mile’ (Photo: Getty)
The second half was played at a pre-season pace, with only one moment succeeding in quickening the pulse. Merino connected smartly with a Martinelli volley but was denied a second league double of 2025 by a superb Sanchez save on his goal-line.
Both teams were missing key players, but the standard didn’t match their respective league positions of 2nd and 4th.
Chelsea’s performance was characterised by a lack of efficiency and discipline.
Enzo Maresca bemoaned the absence of his three top scorers Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke, a trio that have contributed over half of Chelsea’s goal tally in the league.
It was evident by the end with academy prospect Tyrique George and back-up central midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall supporting an out-of-position Pedro Neto in attack. Cucurella had their only two shots on target all game.
Still, given the expenditure that has taken place during the Clearlake Capital era it is reasonable to expect more quality. They ended with an expected goal (xG) value of just 0.35, which made Arteta’s post-match claim that they are the “best attacking team in the league by a mile,” seem charitable in the extreme.
“By a mile, I mean the stats say it and everything that I’ve seen, say it,” he added.
“They can open you up, they can run in transition, they have individual quality, any player in the defensive line can throw you in behind, they can combine on both sides, on weak sides and they are missing some big players as well at the moment.”
Both sides contributed to the general scrappiness and a final card count of 3-3 could have been more on both sides.
Wesley Fofana committed three fouls – including a deliberate-looking stamp on Declan Rice – before finally earning a booking for chucking an extra ball on the pitch like a mischievous mascot.
Levi Colwill was also booked for a reckless studs-up challenge on Leandro Trossard, while Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez appeared primed for a fight from the start.
Gabriel Magalhaes committed the most reckless of Arsenal’s challenges, but the home side were cuter in their disruption, breaking up counter-attacks rather than sinking studs into unusual places.
Even Arteta looked miffed by the end, appearing to urge fans to generate more noise.
With a four-point buffer on Nottingham Forest and a nine-point gap on Chelsea, Arsenal will feel confident of securing a third straight runners-up finish, with Bukayo Saka’s anticipated return after the international break sure to provide a much-needed lift.
Arsenal sorely miss Saka’s capacity for magic, and will hope he can take part in their Champions League double-header with Real Madrid in April.